


Canine Comrade

by High_Flyer2001



Series: Hanzo’s Saviour [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Daddy Issues, Depression, Dogs, F/F, Flashbacks, Hanzo Gets a Dog, Hanzo Shimada Angst, Hanzo Shimada Needs a Hug, Hanzo Shimada has Anxiety, Hanzo Shimada has Issues, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Character Death, Nightmares, On the Run, Paranoia, Past Character Death, Post-Fall of Overwatch, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Overwatch, Pre-Recall, Shimada Clan, Therapy Dog, Young Hanzo Shimada, puppy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23478667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/High_Flyer2001/pseuds/High_Flyer2001
Summary: Nine years after Genji’s death Hanzo wanders the world with no particular end goal in mind, his days are filled with the odd hitman job and his nights are filled with memories he’d love to forget (but doesn’t deserve to).That all changes when he stops a little old lady throwing a bag into a canal.OR... Hanzo gets a therapy dog and they become best pals.
Relationships: Genji Shimada & Hanzo Shimada, Hanzo Shimada & Original Character(s), Hanzo Shimada & Original Dog Character(s), Hanzo Shimada & Original Female Character(s), Hanzo Shimada & Sojiro Shimada, Hanzo Shimada & Widowmaker | Amélie Lacroix
Series: Hanzo’s Saviour [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689094
Comments: 18
Kudos: 55





	1. Chapter 1

Hanzo swiftly turns the corner to enter the dojo, candles illuminate the room causing a warm air to envelope. Nothing’s changed inside the room- warm, inviting and peaceful to encourage meditation however, something’s off.

He spins on his heels to duck his head into the hallway only to notice the lack of guards or servants... well that’s worrying. Someone must be in the building (last time he checked candles can’t light themselves) but they’re nowhere to be seen. He furrows his brows in confusion, the castle always has some sort of movement even on the quietest of days- people have jobs to do and places to be after all- so pure inaction and silence is downright unnerving.

“Hello?” He calls into the vacant hallway, his voice bouncing off the wooden walls only to be met with no response at all. He would find his father or maybe a council member- they would certainly know what was going on, maybe there’s something he’s unaware of (highly unlikely but possible).

With a last scan he turns to reenter the dojo only to freeze in his tracks, in the centre of the large room stood an achingly familiar figure... Genji.

Suddenly everything came flooding back- he couldn’t go to find his father for help, he’s dead and has been for what felt like an eternity. It’s the sight of his little brother that steals the breath from his lungs (oh god he killed Genji, how could he forget?).

The figure twitches- had he said that out loud? His hands begin to shake and his breathing quickens as the figure (no Genji) slowly turns to face him, the sight that greeted him very nearly brings his breakfast back up.

His right arm’s completely gone with only a stub of the humerus on show, the legs (if they can even be called that anymore) were in worse condition. Almost all of the flesh was gone leaving the yellowish bones to peak through the wire like tendons and dripping veins. Finally Hanzo works up the courage to look at its face and god does he regret it almost instantly, what should have been a jaw is more akin to a mutilated pig carcass hanging from a meat hook- which is the cause of the copious amounts of thick blood running down its chest.

The only likeness it has to his bouncing baby brother is that god awful green hair (which is now a tangled bloody mess) and... those eyes . The same eyes that their mother would compare to the walnut coloured feathers on a sparrows back- those eyes haven’t changed in the slightest.

“You...” Hanzo snaps back to reality at the garbled word, “what?” He questions, head cocking to the side in confusion.

“You killed... me” he can only nod as he feels his eyes begin to well up “you... slaughtered me... in cold... blood”.

“I had no choice” he doesn’t recognise his own voice, it’s strained and weak- no longer proud.

“You... had every... choice” the figure drops to his knees- the impact causing a sickening hybrid of a squelch and a crack “You could... have said... no”.

“I...” his words cut off, words seemed to fail him.

“You... killed me” and that’s what it comes down to isn’t it? He slaughtered his brother and felt nothing in the moment, he’s a monster... an animal. Hanzo falls to his knees as his tears finally being to flow freely, “you... killed father’s... little... sparrow”. A sob rips its way out of his mouth and he opens his watery eyes to see that figure hobble closer and closer to him, each step sounding more broken than the last.

By the time the figure reaches him his thighs are wet from dripping tears, looking up he sees the hatred in those eyes clear as day.

“I’m so sorry Otōto” his wobbly voice giving away his inner distress.

“Don’t... call me... that... we are... no... longer... brothers” the figure croaks and suddenly Hanzo notices the shuriken in the figures hand (the same green edged ones Genji got for his twenty-fifth birthday) but now it’s chipped, scratched and most noticeably soaked in a thick coating of blood. 

He doesn’t react when he feels the cold press of the end of the shuriken on the side of his neck, he doesnt react when he feels his own blood (or maybe it’s sweat?) rolling down and pooling behind his collar bones, but he does react when he feels the figures hand tense; ready to strike- he deserves this. It’s been a long time coming- nine years to be exact.

He smiles in anticipation, the sharp edge becomes a blur as its yanked sideways across his jugular.

———————————————————————————————————————————

He sits up suddenly as air is forced into his lungs, blinking a few times easily brings him back to the present- he’s done this enough times to know the score. He does a quick environment check:

Cheap shitty motel room? Check.

Uncomfortable squeaky bed? Check.

Banging on the wall due to an enthusiastic couple next door? Sadly check.

Cradling his head in his hands he massages his temples in a hopeless attempt to kill of his headache. After a while he gives up, running a hand through his hair he glances at the bed side clock: 5:37am (which meant that couple had been fucking for the best part of six hours- he vaguely wondered if they took a break or marched on for that long).

He figures he isn’t going to get back to sleep anytime soon so he swings his legs over the edge of the bed and stands, cringing as he felt his tank top stick to him due to sweat- lovely. He strips off quickly on his way to the shower; happy to be free of the now disgusting sleep wear, after pushing the leaver around to turn the shower on he takes a second to look at himself in the mirror before it steams up.

He looks like complete shit- what a surprise for someone who’s been on the run for nine years.

His hair’s like a bird’s nest: split ends making it seem frizzy, knots filling him with dread at the though of brushing them out and his natural shiny mane was replaced with a dull mop end that makes it look like a deep grey rather than the usual black. His skin is pasty and holds a light sheen of sweat making his face look oily and uncared for (so not too far from the truth) whilst his beard’s clearly unkempt resembling a homeless man rather than a leader of the yakuza, correction- former leader of the yakuza.

Sighing he looks away from the same face he’s looked at everyday for an eternity and steps into the shower, happy to feel the water wash away any reminder of his nighttime memories. In a vain attempt to relax his muscles he sets his head against the (disgusting) tiled wall but it was a lost cause.

The water rolling down his body eerily feels like his own blood running down his throat- that thought gives him a full body shiver.

After finishing up his shower he brushes his teeth and towel dries his hair, brushing it back so the damp strands annoyed the top of his spine. Pulling on some black skinny track suit pants (they were on sale don't judge) along with a dark grey fitted top- making sure his tattoo’s completely hidden behind the long sleeves that easily draped over his hands, apparently this top’s made for someone with freakishly long arms. He finishes the outfit off with walking boots and a simple parka style jacket that falls to his mid thighs- altogether a simple outfit that would help him blend in but not make him look too suspicious (a delicate balance).

A quick look at the clock tells him it’s now just passed 6:30am, might as well start his day. After throwing his sweaty sleepwear into a plastic bag he gets onto his knees to pull his small duffel bag and cello case from under the bed making sure he packs all of his belongings quickly and methodically. Next he places the two bags be the door and double checks he has his phone, ear phones and room key on him, he’s booked in to spend another night there but who knows who’s keeping an eye on him these days so a quick escape plan is always useful to have in place.

Lastly he places a swab of cotton wool on the windowsill next to the door- if the door opens in a way that an intruder or any other regular human would then it would be blown onto the floor however, the elder Shimada quickly figured out the better way to open the door to avoid this (block the wind with his body). Call him paranoid, he’d most likely agree.

Tucking a compact throwing knife into his boot he leaves the room to start the day.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Stepping out of the motel he’s met with a cool breeze and a beautiful view of the local village, and it really is a hidden gem. It had only been a month and one week since his annual visit to Hanamura- what a joy that was- and since then he’s been making his way West simply because why not? He doesn’t exactly have anywhere to be and hitman (he preferred “assassin”) jobs were plentifully available in any country, that’s how he ended up in a quaint little village in Belgium- he didn’t bother to learn its name, he’d be moving on very soon.

With no jobs today to has nothing left to do but wander around the streets of Belgium so he chooses a random direction and starts walking aimlessly.

On his third hour of sitting on a park bench people watching he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, that sixth sense the elders had hammered into him at a young age coming in handy. With a subtle glance around (nothing suspicious could be seen just a mother and two children walking) he rises from his curled up position and promptly heads towards the park gates- that awful feeling does nothing but intensify.

Just as he rounds the gate corner the heavens opened and that sunny day takes a depressing turn, he deliberately walks away from his motel room (eventually he would have to loop back around for Stormbow but that was future Hanzo’s problem) to lure them away from his belongings. He doesn’t bother to pull his hood up he just concentrates on walking in a straight line and not tripping over his loose shoe laces- god knows how he’s survived nine years on the run from assassins when he struggles to stay up right 80% of the time.

He decides it’s worth it to risk a quick glance behind him only to see a very wet and deserted street minus the hooded figure rounding the park gates and following in his footsteps- shit.

Hanzo subtly quickens his pace hoping it isn’t obvious to them that he’s spotted the figure (it would hopefully been seen as “oh he’s trying to get out of the rain”). He furrows his brows as he makes sure to put one foot in front of the other as every muscle in his compact body tensed in anticipation for a fight or flight reaction- most likely flight as he was in no shape today to be dodging shuriken aimed for his throat.

The wet footsteps quickening behind him made his breath catch in his throat and he takes the sudden choice to duck into the next alleyway and crouch behind the nearest bin, peaking out just enough to watch for the assassin.

The soggy tapping of feet got progressively closer and closer to his hiding spot and his whole body tensed like a cat waiting for a mouse, only he was definitely the mouse in this situation, an armed and dangerous mouse that wouldn’t go down without a fight. Lastly he silently untucks the knife from his boots and holds it close to his body- ready to pounce.

He sucked in one last breath and the figure neared the corner, only to see a young western looking man with earphones in and his hood up walk passed the mouth of the alleyway- he was scared of a teenager, this was just proof that his paranoia was ridiculously high (as if the cotton ball wasn’t enough proof). Slumping against the moss covered wall he put his head into his hands and gripped at the hair on the sides of his head, his mind vaguely registering the clank of his knife hitting the floor.

He just focused on settling his breathing down...

Breath in 1, 2, 3... breath out 1, 2, 3. He carried this on until he could open his eyes and the wall in front of him wasn’t blurry anymore (he really has no clue how long it took). Finally he scrubbed the ends of his sleeves into his eyes and stood up feeling present on earth again, making sure to collect his weapon.

Looking up he realises the sky has taken on the typical orange hue indicating the setting sun- his anxiety ridden mind is seriously struggling to work out how long he’d been recovering (definitely too long).

Forcing shaky legs to move one at a time he makes his way out of the alleyway deciding to make his way away from the park and back to his room for the night. His head feels incredibly fuzzy as he stumbles down the street- he probably looks like a drug addict but that’s not something he’s too concerned about (it means hopefully no one will bother him on his journey back to his bed).

Before he knows it he’s walking along the canal that weaves its way through the middle of the village, only slowing to duck sideways under the heavy stone bridges scattered along the way. If he remembers correctly he’s about a half an hour walk away from the motel so he tugs the hood of his jacket up (his damp hair causing him to shiver quite a lot), shoves his hands into his pockets and quickens his pace- sleeping sounds heavenly right about now.

After about ten minutes of walking his solemn thoughts are interrupted by a door suddenly slamming open causing him to freeze in place. Nothing exciting emerges, just an angry sounding lady carrying a bin bag emerges from her house onto the canal in front of him.

The first thing that hits him about her is her horrible posture- Genji would’ve compared her to that ancient Disney movie set in France. She’s dressed in typical “old people clothes” (purple t-shirt, pink knee length skirt, tan tights, the world’s ugliest brown slippers and a knitted scarf to complete the ensemble). Her hair’s pulled into a strict bun that gives the Shimada vague flashbacks to his maths tutor.

Hanzo’s perfectly willing to wait for a chance to shuffle around her and carry on his way... until he sees the bag move.

“What do you have there?” He asked because he couldn’t just keep his mouth shut apparently, his eyes widened slightly when the woman’s force glare landed on him.

“What is it to you chinky?” Came her heavily accented response, he ignored the slur (he’d heard more than enough during his exile) “just be on your way”.

“I was about to until i saw that bag move, what’s in there?” He dreaded it being a child, he knows he isn’t a good person but he’s aware there’s worse people out there.

“A fuckin’ mongrel that i don’t fuckin’ want around!” She yells as she shifts her weight back, getting ready to throw the bag into the canal.

“Wait!” He says before he can even think about it and the woman gives him a side glance “I’ll take it off you?” He reasons, a whine comes from the bag. The woman sighs and turns to face him before sighing.

“This thing took my prize girl from me, she died in labour” her daughter died in labour? “And it’s all that fuckin’ farmer’s fault! The bastard!” As she rants she swings the bag around it time with her hand gestures causing Hanzo to tense painfully “it doesn’t deserve to live”.

Then time seems to slow down as the woman movs to throw the bag, Hanzo rushes forward without a second thought. He ends up pushing the woman as he wraps his arms around the bag as he too falls to the ground. He quickly stumbles to his feet as he moves into a sprint away from the woman.

“Get fuckin’ back here chink!” He hears as he runs down the canal in the direction of his motel room.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

He doesn’t stop moving until the motel room door is securely locked behind him, he’s forced to breath deeply through his nose to slow his heart rate down. He sets the bag down onto his bed as he can see little legs kicking at the plastic barrier, the quicker he gets it out of there the better- hell decide what to do with it later.

Taking his knife from his boot for the second time that day he begins to cut the bag open with precision only gained from years of training. The thing (for lack of a better term) stayed stock still during the whole process so Hanzo had to give it some credit as he continues to cut around the knot of the bag. It didn’t take too long to create an entrance to the bag so he places his knife on the bed and takes a calming breath before opening up the bag.

At first glance it looks like an empty bag, he moves to put his hand into the bag (surely it can’t be healthy to stay in a bin bag, right?) but a small whimper can be heard- it’s scared and he cant really blame it. The run here alone must’ve been traumatising.

Not wanting to frighten it anymore he sits by the pillows of the bed and waits, it’ll come out in its own time he reassures himself. So he sits there with half his mind keeping an eye on the bag and the other half wandering off into his own thought process.

Soon the bag starts to wriggle around and Hanzo briefly fears that it’ll wriggle its way off the edge so he leans over and places a hand on top of it, it stops wriggling. He notices the slice he made in the bag start to open- looks like its feeling ready to say hello. The first part to show itself is a little shiny black blob- is it a nose? Followed by a dark furry snout.

“Come on then” he speaks in his kindest more encouraging voice (the same one he’d use when he was helping Genji with homework) and that seems to do the trick as soon enough a whole head emerge to reveal.... a dog, or more accurately a puppy. Well that’s a surprise- to be perfectly honest he’s released it isn’t a human baby, they’re disgusting and loud and a pain to be around in general. With a perfectly steady hand he tugs the puppy from its plastic prison to get a good look at it.

It’s tiny, not even half the length of Hanzo’s forearm. He realised that “it” is actually a “she” as she worms her way around the bed. She has two pricked ear that stand proudly on top of her streamline skull, her muzzle is narrower than a German Shepherds but not quite as thin as a Doberman’s and that same muzzle has two rows of needle like white teeth lining it. Her coat is quite a sight, her back’s mostly black with a blonde belly and her legs fading from the black into blonde feet.

He huffed out a soft laugh at her shenanigans causing her to whip her heard around to face him, her eyes are quite striking- a light brown (he might even call it hazel).

Overall she’s a gorgeous little dog- shame he cant keep her. It’s not safe for a dog to be a part of his life, dogs need to settle in a safe environment (something he just can’t provide). He knows there isn’t an animal shelter in this village but the next village over is bigger so in theory would have one that would take her in, she’d get adopted by a nice family ad live a good life, sounds perfect.

The only downside to that is her breeding, now Hanzo may not be an expert of breeds of dog but he knows a Belgian Malinois when he sees one. His great-great grandfather had ordered Japanese Akita dogs to be trained to walk to perimeter with guards to keep the castle safe from intruders and they did an excellent job (young Hanzo was terrified them but he’ll never admit that) however, that changed when his grandfather made a trip to America and brought back five Belgian Malinois pups- bred to work in the military- to be trained to replace the Akitas. Hanzo was fascinated by them and watched every training session he could, much to his father’s dismay. 

The Malis were short lived as once his father became the Scion he ordered them all to be destroyed as “the Shimada castle’s safety should not rest on the shoulders on mongrels”. It was a sad day when five gun shots rang out in the forest.

He doesn’t know what she’s crossed with but he knows the Malis have an innate biting instinct which makes them fit for military work but therefore makes them difficult to rehome- he’ll cross that bridge when he comes to it.

A whine breaks him out of his thoughts and he looks at the puppy to see that she’s stopped wriggling next to his thigh and has started licking it- she must be hungry.

He rises from the bed and walks over to the mini fridge by the door to remind himself of what food he’s got in: a box of cereal bars, an apple, a carton of goat’s milk (on sale don't judge) and a tub of brownies... his mother would be soooo proud.

Pulling out his phone he quickly looks up “emergency food for puppies” and of course it came up with puppy food (which he doesn’t have right now) so he kept digging until he came across an article stating that dogs can drink milk but goats milk is better and safer than cows milk. For once the universe is working in his favour.

Being resourceful he pulls out his water bottle and takes off the screw cap and pours a little bit of the milk into in a sets it on the floor. Next he gently lifts up the wiggly pup and sets her next to the cap watching in amusement as she practically inhales it, he refills the cap twice before deciding that’s enough for her tonight; he’ll pick up some proper food to last her until the next village over tomorrow.

He rearranges some furniture and bags to corner a section of the room off so she can sleep safely and takes the blanket from the bed and creates a nest for her, she’ll be sleeping better than he will at this rate. He’s about to take his soaking jacket off when he realises she’ll need a toilet break or she’ll be up all night, great. He vaguely wonders if he’ll need a lead for her but remembers that he can run much faster than her stubby little legs can carry her.

After picking her up and tucking her into his jacket he carries her down to a little patch of grass behind the motel, almost as soon as he sets her down she relieves herself, poor thing must’ve been desperate. He gives her a gentle “good girl: and a scratch behind the ear when she waddles back to his feet.

Once they’re both back in the room he deposits the Mali in her half-assed nest (he watches with a smile as she yawns and snuggles into the blanket), peels of his jacket and flops onto his bed not even bothering to change. 

Hanzo can safety say that’s the fastest he’s ever fallen asleep in almost a decade.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanzo decides what he’s going to do with the rescued pup.

Hanzo returns to the land of the living slowly, a welcome change to his usual sudden awakening from his dreams. He rolls over and his calm awakening is short lived as he opens his eyes only to have them stabbed by sun beams- seems he’s not allowed to be content for too long. He scans the room, everything’s in its normal place so that’s all good. As he lays his eyes on the make shift pen in the corner a spike of panic shoots through his gut as he notices that the puppy hasn’t moved all night.

Jumping from the bed he skids to a halt on his knees next to the nest and notices the gently rise of fall of her chest, he only fully relaxes once he’s nudged her and her little paw twitches in response. Yesterday must’ve been more tiring for her than it was for him, she didn’t physically do anything but being lugged around in a bag and then suddenly being fed by a stranger would’ve been mentally exhausting- poor thing. Hanzo’s always had a soft spot for dogs he just didn’t let anyone know, couldn’t let anybody know (caring for a “useless creature” was seen as a weakness by the clan and mostly importantly his father). He thought his secret love for animals of the canine variety was well hidden... until it’s wasn’t, he didn’t know how Sojiro found out about his weakness for them (probably because he cooed at every dog that walked by the window during a meeting) and he voiced his displeasure at dinner one night after Genji had left the table. He remembers it so clearly, like it was yesterday.

The three of them had finished their meals and waited as the servants collected their plates, the only noise that could be heard was the impatient tapping of Genji’s foot.

“You may leave us, Genji” came the voice of his father, a small “yes!” came from his brother as he bounded away, a small smile on Sojiro’s face was present as he watched his youngest son. He then turned his attention to his heir, smile disappearing, “you must stop this weakness”, Hanzo said nothing, just kept his head down allowing his hair to fall in front of his eyes.

“Look at me” so Hanzo did, he looked him dead in the eye “good, now we need to bring this weakness into the limelight” neither of their gazes wavered. 

“I am sorry, father. It will not happen again” he hoped that would be the end of it but luck was not on his side.

“Oh but it will, and we both know it” Hanzo looked away “we will have to deal with this as the council have begun to notice your wandering mind but I have not decided how yet. Give me time and I will have a solution” he stated. He sat there obviously waiting for a response.

“Thank you, father” seemingly satisfied he nodded and dismissed him fro the table. He only let his tears fall freely once he was locked behind his bedroom door.

An obnoxiously loud yawn broke Hanzo from his memories and he realised he had unconsciously started to rub the pup’s chin. Now she’s just blinking owlishly at him whilst licking her lips- he comes to the conclusion that she must be hungry, she cant be blamed for that, its common sense that pups should be eating often to make sure they grow up big and strong.

He leaves the little pup forcing himself to ignore her pitiful whines as he digs around in the mini fridge for the goats milk and begins to mentally make a plan for the day ahead.

Priority one- feed pup (already working on it) and take her outside, two- get himself sorted (by that he means change his clothes and brush his teeth nothing special) and finally journey to the nearest shop and stock up on enough proper puppy food to last him until the next town over when their paths will take separate paths. It’ll be the most he’s done in twenty-four hours in a while.

He places the shallow bowl of milk by the pup and watches in amusement as she rams her snout enthusiastically into her breakfast so she gets a splash of milk on her forehead.

“Take it easy, little one” he surprises himself with how gentle his voice sounds and puppy momentarily stops her meal to peer up at him before returning to it- he smirks as he watches her quickly lap at the milk (an improvement that he’ll take).

He gets up and stretches as he makes his way to the bathroom, leaving the door open allowing him a clear line of sight to the hungry pup. He quickly brushes his teeth and combs his hair, noticing it’s developed an unwanted kink in it over night, hair up it is today then. He’s washing his face when he hears a light thud and he looks up quickly (wary of intruders) to see that the pup has managed to get her head under the bowl and has flicked it upside down only to start batting it with her tiny paw whilst yapping- he imagines she’s demanding more milk and threatening the bowl, the thought brings a small smile to his face. She’ll get her next feed once he’s been to a shop.

After leaving the bathroom he moves over to his duffel whilst keeping one eye one the pup as she batters the bowl like it owes her money. Hanzo quickly decides to strip of his jacket and boots before replacing his top for a cosy blue hooded jumper and swapping his socks for clean ones- he will have to make a trip to a washing machine soon or he’ll run out of clothes.

Pulling his boots and jacket back on he scoops the pup up, huffing out a laugh as she instantly snuggles under his jacket against his chest as he carries her outside to the grassy plot around the back of the motel. It doesn't take her long to sort herself (she must’ve been bursting- he's honestly shocked she didn’t spoil her blanket) and as she returns to his feet he scratches behind her ears, she obviously likes that, and carries her back up to the room.

Now, time to decide what to do with her whilst he’s going to the shop.

He plops her down on the bed and sits on the edge of the bed, torso twisted so he can watch her trip over her own feet. She fumbles and wriggles, squeaking and yapping as she goes, she turns her head to look at him she begins to stumble towards him until she head butts his thigh. Hanzo can’t help but chuckle as he begins to scratch her back with blunt, bitten nails. A new fire seems to light in her eyes as she begins to climb his leg looking like a child trying to clamber up a boulder, eventually he takes pity on her and cups his hand by her tail and pushes her up to the top of his leg.

She stands there for a second... before promptly falling face first into his jumper’s pocket and worms her way in, its a snug fit but one she seems content with. It also gives her a place to stay whilst he shops- perfect!

He grabs his wallet and phone, sets his bags by the door, places the cotton wool ball on the windowsill and finally leaves his room with a Malimois puppy in his hoodie pocket.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

He’s browsing the pet food isle when his pocket begins to wriggle, a sure sign someone’s woken up from her nap. Glancing around he sees no one in his isle or the next one over so he pulls the edge of his pocket back to see two hazel eyes peering up at him.

“What are you doing down there?” He asks the baby in his pocket, a new feeling blooming in his chest as she butts her head to his hand- she wants scratching. He puts a hand into his pocket and begins to scratch along her back feeling her muscles relax under his palm. The wriggling stops.

When he finally gets to the check out he feels like he’s in a trance as he places the items onto the conveyer belt and waits to be served. Every now and then he will feel pup twitch against his hand but apart from that she’ been in a deep sleep since he started rubbing her spine, he knows babies grow when they sleep so if she keeps sleeping as much as she is she’ll be the size of a Great Dane in no time. Hanzo can vaguely remember the size of the Malis the clan used to have, they were big (pretty much as tall as an Alsatian) but slim which gave them the illusion of slightness. Either way she will grow to be an impressive dog.

“Um ... Meneer?” He blinks a couple of times before focusing on the cashier, a petite woman with wide doe like eyes.

“Yes? Sorry, um hoeveel?” Thank god he knows some Dutch.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

It’s just past noon when he gets back to the motel and he places pup o the floor before moving to empty his pathetic excuse for a shopping haul into his duffel bag/ mini fridge. He places the little jug of goats milk into the fridge, the cans of puppy food and other snacks are deposited into what little space he has left in his duffel. He turns to face puppy (who’s sat there staring at him like a little angel) with a surprise behind his back.

He moves to sit on the floor before pulling out pup’s surprise- a small tugging toy. Her head tilts in confusion so Hanzo helps her a little by moving in along the floor in short, erratic bursts- like a rabbit. Suddenly she pounces and chases the tugging around the floor, and by chases he means she tries to bat at it with tiny feet and over-exaggerated movements- it’s absolutely adorable. Finally she clamps her needle teeth onto the tuggy and begins to pull back, digging her claws into the stained carpet beneath her. Then she shakes her head leaving Hanzo to let go of the toy and watches as she falls back onto her tail, that’ll keep her entertained.

As she shoots away he rises and begins to properly organise his belongings for the journey to the next village over (and by organise he means tips his duffel bag out and repack). Sighing he begins his organising ritual.

Once his duffel bag is thoroughly packed he drags is cello case out into the centre of the room, flicks the switches and throws the lid open looking at his precious Stormbow and his traditional battle wear. Sighing he pulls his bow out and begins to polish his closest possession, listening to the light pitter patter of feet behind him.

Once his bow is shiny enough that Hanzo can see his homeless beard in all its glory in its reflection he places it back in the case along with the quiver and arrows. He goes to pull his battle gear out only to notice the obvious lack of a certain bright yellow ribbon, he looks everywhere- under the case, in all the pockets, in the bathroom and under the pillow, it cat be found.

Then he hears it- the subtle sound of huffing from under the bed. After he silently crawls over he takes the edge of the duvet in his hand before pulling it upwards- he can’t help but burst out laughing at what greets him, the sight of a certain puppy wrapped in his ribbon like a Christmas present wrapped by a drunken uncle the night before. Hanzo laughs so hard he unconsciously rolls onto his back and clutches at his chest.

The sudden foreign noise coming from him causes puppy to lift her head and begin to wriggle her way over to him, his laughs are starting to die down when he feels her tiny head force (she’s very strong for such a small creature) its way into the junction between his neck and his chest. He begins to unwrap the ribbon from her body- somehow she’s got it tangled around both back feet, tail, chest and also around one ear... impressive. Once he’s finally freed his ribbon from the clutches of the tiny furry dragon she scampers off to harass the strap of his duffel bag, at least she’s entertained.

After tying the ribbon around his wrist he rises from the floor and moves to the bathroom. Once he's stood in front of the sink/mirror combo he finally notices how much his face aches, he raises a hand to his face to massage his cheek only to wonder has it really been that long since he’s smiled? Quite possibly, there’s not a lot to smile about these days.

He pokes his head out of the bathroom door to glance a the clock- an hour and a half until check out, so he decides to catch up on his beard maintenance. 

He moves over to his bag to grab his razor (careful to prize the baby alligator away from his belongings), wanders back over to the sink and begins to trim his beard down to he preferred length.

Not too long later whilst he’s washing his razor and cleaning up the sink he peers out into the main section of the room only to see pup fast asleep with the bag’s strap still in her mouth- it seems she’s fallen asleep mid-play, cute.

Once everything is packed away he sits on the bed, keeping pup in his line of sight, and pulls out his phone to look up the times of trains moving from the local train station over to the next village where the dog’s home is located. He’s presented with two options- one in ten minutes or one in an hour.

So his options are run like a mad man (with a puppy in his pocket) or wait outside the station for half an hour as he’ll be kicked out of the room shortly- what great options he feels so blessed.

Obviously he picks the more relaxed option, he's not completely insane.

He’s about to lie back and relax for two seconds when he realises he hasn’t fed pup- shit! The elder Shimada jumps up and rummages through hhis bag, waking the baby up in the process. He chuckles at her yawning and stretching as he pours a bit of of the food into her milk bowl, it takes a couple of seconds for her nose to lock onto the smell but when she finds it it’s like a piranha to a corpse (it’s a little unnerving to say the least). She licks her lips once she’s finished and Hanzo takes the bowl, washed it, reseals the puppy food packet and he’s ready to go after he placed puppy back into her pocket sanctuary.

He steps out of his room only to realise with complete delight that it’s raining again... perfect. So with a cello case on his back, a duffel on his shoulder and a puppy stuffed in his pocket he begins the march to the train station with as much enthusiasm as a cat bathing in the sun.

With a sudden horror he begins to feel a shocking cold chill run down his spine- great, his jackets got a tear somewhere. This will be a long soggy walk.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

After what seems like forever the station comes into view, a quick glance at his watch tells him he has half an hour until his train so he seeks out shelter by the building’s main entrance. He sets his case and bag against the bench and takes a seat, taking a moment to revel in the feeling of nothing pulling on his shoulders.

As if the pup’s unconsciously sensing him resting he feels her head pop out of his jumper pouch, he peers over his jacket’s collar to look at her as she stares at the rain splattering against the pavement in front of them. Above them Hanzo notices that the rain has begun to leak through the shitty patio roof they’ve taken shelter under and a few drops escape and land just to his left causing pup’s head to whip around face the splash zone like its personally offended her.

Suddenly she launches herself out of her jumper cave and pounces on the splash (reminding the elder Shimada of a cat), he can’t help but chuckle at her confused expression when she comes up empty pawed. She lets out an offended squeak when another droplet falls on her head wetting an ear, taking pity on her Hanzo scoops her up and rubs her head with his sleeve in an attempt to dry her before moving to put her back in his pocket- she’s safest there.

Apparently she’s decided she wants to gets soaking wet rather than sit in a nice warm pocket as she squeaks and flails her tiny limbs around just to exaggerate how much she doesn't want to be warm, what a drama queen.

Over the speaker near him a gruff voice announces his train is pulling into the station- that’s his queue to get moving.

After grabbing his bag, cello case and wrapping puppy up in his jacket he moves around the back of the station. No don’t be mistaken money isn’t an issue to Hanzo, assassinations don’t pay cheap but avoiding transportation hubs is quit high on his to-do lists (they have lots of cameras ok he isn’t paranoid). So if sneaking in round back saves money, avoids cameras and avoids social interactions with random people, he’s going to sneak round back. 

After a quick walk around the building he comes to a chain link fence, very low tech but considering he hasn’t seen even one omnic shows this village isn’t really up-to-date with modern technology (not that he’s going to complain about that). He quickly makes sure pup is secure with her head poking out from his collar, before vaulting over the fence in a hurried manner, landing with a quiet “thunk” and quickly spots his train waiting by the station.

The train’s made up of two passenger carriages and three storage carriages- perfect considering he ideally doesn’t want to sit next to anyone. Staying low to the floor he makes his way over to the train and silently skids to a stop by the large storage carriage door. The only sounds that can be heard is the humming of the over pads on the belly of the train and the chatter of the passengers waiting to board. He clasps his hand round the handle of the door and waits there patiently, his other hand absently scratching the pup’s head making her eyelids droop.

After what feels like an eternity that gruff voice over the speaker returns and Hanzo drags the door open, the scraping of the metal drowned out by the announcement of the station’s coffee shop opening which causes a stampede of sleep deprived passengers. He hops aboard and drags the door shut before hunkering down for the journey- two hours. It would only be ten minutes on a hyper train but this train is an ancient piece of shit and slowly chugs along and a painfully slow speed.

So he’ll take a nap-he’s nearly middle aged he’s entitled.

As the train begins to move with a deafening screech pup pokes her head out from his collar are looks at him with her big hazel eyes and he scratches her tiny skull and watches her eyes close.

Not too long after that he feels her snuggle into his neck in his jacket, he does his best to ignore his wet spine, leans against a metal crate and closes his eyes before falling into an uneasy sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that’s chapter 2! Wonder what’s gonna happen next ooooo!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanzo makes some decisions, gets offered a job and arrives at the shelter.

“Aniki, aniki! Wake up!” Hanzo feels his shoulders being shook (quite aggressively) before he snapped his eyes open to see his brothers smiling face above him.

“What?” The elder questions his brother as the younger bounced eagerly on the edge of his bed “please stop bouncing”.

“You have to come with me!” Genji replied without pausing his bouncing in the slightest, Hanzo just stared at his sibling causing the younger to nudge him in the shoulder and insist “just come with me!” They stared at each other for a solid few seconds before Hanzo relented.

“Fine, leave me for a minute to get changed...” he saw his brother remain stock still “what?”.

“How do I know you won’t just fall asleep?”

“I promise i will be out in no more than ten minutes, okay?” He asked, leaning slightly towards his brother.

“I will eat your desert if you don’t” Genji stated.

“How ever will I survive?” That caused his brother to start giggling as he got up and left the room, waving to Hanzo as he closed the door behind him. The eldest sibling sighed before he rolled out of his bed, quickly tidied his sheets/pillows and then jumped in the shower.

Once he was clean and dry (well a dry body and damp hair which he promptly tied in a loose bun) he dressed in loose black trousers which he neatly tucked into his knee high boots and a light blue top he had to wrap around his torso, tie at his lower back and then tuck it snuggly into his trousers. He was all ready to go.

He glanced at his reflection in the mirror and paused, he looked good. His outfit gave him gave him a casual air whilst also highlighting is narrow waist and long legs, to finish it off his bun had already began to come loose which caused some stray hair to fall around his face- this drew his eye to his narrow jawline. For a sixteen year old he looked good, just a shame he would have to change out of it in a while for training. He gave one last smirk to his reflection before he headed to his door and opened it, allowing Genji to fall face first into Hanzo’s carpet- of course he’d been leaning against the door. 

“Let’s go!” Genji cheered before hopping up off the floor and bouncing down the hallway, not even looking to see if his brother was following. Against his better judgement Hanzo began to walk after his sibling... just at a slower, more human pace.

Not too long after he found Genji outside their Aunt Sara’s house that sits in a secluded corner of the Shimada Compound “Genji, why have you brought me here?” He asked which made Genji whip his head around and quickly shush him, this caused Hanzo to remain quiet but raise a judgemental eyebrow at his sibling.

He only moved closer when Genji waved his hand at him in a ‘come here’ gesture. He poked his head into the doorway ad scanned the room..

“Hanzo, is that you?” Came the sickeningly sweet voice of his aunt on his father’s side.

“Yes it’s me Oba” he replied coming to stand next to his brother “why have you brought me here, Genji?” He couldn’t help but question.

“I asked him to bring you here Hanzo, come closer and have a look at this” without wanting to disobey his elder he moves into his Aunt’s small summer house. To say was confused would be an understatement, he hadn’t been to his Aunt’s house since he was small. He walks deeper into her house only to see something he didn’t expect and it makes him freeze in place.

A pen full of fluffy puppies... what?

“Aren’t they adorable anija?” Came the cheerful voice of his twelve year old brother, and yes they were really cute but he would never admit that- that would be a sign of weakness. He suddenly felt pressure on his calf through his boot and looked down to see his Aunt’s fluffy white miniature poodle named Kiui (presumably the mother of the puppies that wriggled in the pen- they had many fond memories of playing with her) “they’re like fluffy little potatoes!” Hanzo only hums non-comically in response.

“Genji, Oba I must get back to the castle, I have training soon. Thank you for inviting me” he didn’t but they wouldn’t know that.

“Wait, please do not leave yet” it was only the saddened look on his Aunt’s face that made him stay “just stay for one more minute?” Hanzo just sighed and nodded, he was starting to get fidgety. She moved over to the pen and leaned down and scooped a puppy up with her withered hand, the puppy immediately began to squirm and chew on her elongated nails “this little one is for you boys” and all air was sucked out of Hanzo’s lungs, whilst Genji squealed in delight.

“Oh my god, yes!” Genji exclaimed at the same time as Hanzo stuttered “no, no we cannot take that puppy into the castle”, this caused his Aunt to raise a perfectly plucked eyebrow at him.

“Why ever not?” She asked.

“Father would never allow it!” He exclaimed trying to get through to his family that it couldn’t be done.

“It’ll be fine Anija!” Stated his brother as he scooped up the puppy, hugged their aunt and began the journey back to the castle.

Hanzo was left behind with what felt like a stomach full of lead.

____________________

Hanzo startles awake and the first thing he notices is how much his back is hurting- maybe sleeping slumped between a metal crate and his cello case wasn’t the brightest idea but it wasn’t like he had much choice. He looks down to see the pup sleeping soundly, still snuggled up against his jumper underneath his jacket.

He goes to look up at the ceiling of the carriage only for a painful ache to flare up behind his eyes, and he knows from experience that the only way to fight headaches like these off is to drug himself up to the tip of his ears with Ibuprofen. The only problem with that plan being he can’t move at the moment due to a certain little missy sleeping against his chest and rummaging around his duffel would certainly wake her up so for now, he’ll suffer.

Shifting slightly he tries to move his legs a little so he can regain some feeling in them but all he achieves is pins and needles shooting through his calf muscles making them tense and cramp up- the universe does have a funny way of kicking him when he’s down. He forces himself to rotate his ankles one at a time and gradually feels the tingling disappear but it takes a while to fully subside. Whilst he waits he shifts his weight so he can pull his phone out from his pocket to check the time, not too long left of the train journey so he begins to plan what he’ll do once he reaches the next village and the first thing he does is look up the hotel options they have... the answer is not a lot.

He’s given three options: an overly expensive one bedroom cottage on the outskirts of the village (perfect placement but too much money to waste), a super cheap motel with a two star review or a slightly more expensive hotel closer to the centre of the village (plus it has a three point five star review so that’s a bonus). He strikes the cottage from his mental list and compares the two motels, the pricier one has....

Free WiFi- not a necessity at all.

Free breakfast- a nice touch but not needed.

A small balcony for each room to “take in the beautiful Belgian scenery”- a good. Emergency escape route but also a good entrance for those after him.

And finally dogs are allowed, wait. He quickly checks the piss cheap motel and notices they don't allow dogs... weird. But, that doesn’t matter because the pup will be gone as soon as he can get to a dog shelter so that won’t be a problem soon. With that he books a room for a couple of nights under an alias “Kuno Hoshiko”-one of his many fake names up his sleeve and chooses to pay by cash on arrival. If the shelter isn’t open when he arrives he’ll only have to sneak the pup in once and out once so it shouldn’t be too much hassle compared to some of the other things he’s done to make his aliases believable... some far more embarrassing than others.

With a little bit more time to waste he begins to stroke the pup’s head from the top of her nose up to the crest of her skull in long gentle strokes which causes her to nestle deeper into his clothing- Hanzo’s shocked that’s even possible but she does look comfy in there. With a content sigh he leans his head back and stares ahead, trying his best to ignore the thumping behind his eyes he slowly enters a day dreaming state purely to pass time.

____________________

It’s a sudden series of chain events that knocks him back to this world. The train screeches to a halt causing his body to lean forward before violently getting thrown back which leads to him bashing his head against the metallic wall behind him- what a way to end a journey. He looks down through bleary eyes to see that the pup’s still asleep, Hanzo briefly wonders if she’s slipped into a coma... that wouldn’t be ideal at all. He nudges her by the ear and begins to panic when she doesn’t move a muscle so he shakes her whole body through his jacket.

Her reply is a ridiculously loud yawn, thank god okay she’s alive. Apparently she just sleeps like the dead- he’ll have to make a mental note of that so he doesn’t have any future heart attacks, actually she won’t be with him for much longer so it doesn't really matter.

Even the thought of getting up causes the pain behind his eyes to intensify (or maybe that’s because of the mild concussion the train gave him) but he fights through it- if he can fight half his family off he can fight a damned headache through sheer force of will. After taking pup’s little head back into his jacket (where she happily stays) he stands up on wobbly legs, grabs his bags and sits by the storage carriage’s door waiting for the sound of other people to die down. Soon enough he hears a chance to escape, he quietly opens the door just enough for him to squeeze through and sprints to the chain link fence before swiftly vaulting over it, a quick glance around confirms no one saw his actions.

Pup gives a squeak in response to the jostling, so he scratches her head as an apology which she happily accepts and settles down again. Hanzo leans against a nearby wall and pulls his phone from his pocket and looks up the address of his motel- just a fifteen minute walk away, so he starts his mini adventure.

As he gets close to his bed for the night he notices a large patch of grass on his left and he suddenly remembers the little pup has needs! He rests his bags against a bench, unzips his jacket and places the pup on the floor... only for her to face plant the floor because she hasn’t quite woken up yet. She’s suddenly shocked awake by Hanzo’s bark of laughter causing her to whip her head around to focus her beady eyes on him and then she proceeds to start wobbling over to him, only stopping when she bashes into his boot.

“Go on, you have to go before we get to the motel” he nudges her with his boot, watching as she huffs and wanders away from him before doing the deeds. He turns away from her and rummages through his back for his Ibuprofen so he can promptly swallow several dry to kill off this headache. He picks his bags up before lugging them onto his back, it’s then that he hears a high pitched yapping. Hanzo lifts his head to see a rat sized dog barking its little head off in his direction whist pulling so hard it’s forced to stand on its back legs, the woman holding the lead doing nothing to keep it calm just continuing on her merry way without giving a single fuck.

He suddenly feels a pressure against his boot and looks down to see the pup standing with two feet on his boot, ears perked up and eyes trained on the rat dog. As the rat gets dragged away pup begins to huff out what Hanzo can only assume to be a “baby bark”, once the rat has disappeared behind a corner the pup looks up at him like she’s committed the world’s greatest deed.

“Well done, you scared it away” he whispers to her she she replies by wiggling her whole back end and adopting an expression that makes her look like a cat who got the cream. He scoops her up, tucks her back in his jacket and continues on his way to the motel.

____________________________

By the time he locks the motel door he’s absolutely exhausted and leaving the room sounds like far too much effort at this point. He places pup on the floor only for her to run around his feet like she’s chugged coffee so he digs her little tuggy toy out from his bag, throws it on the floor and watches in amusement as she flings it around- at least she’s entertained for now. He’s decided he really needs a shower, but only after the pup is sorted for the night.

He quickly fashions a puppy pen by his bed from pillows, his bags and the bed side table before scooping pup up (tuggy and all) and placing her into her makeshift nest. 

Hanzo only notices the state off the room after taking a moment to look around. The carpet is a deep ugly shade of red that contrasts horrifically with the pink floral bed covers and green curtains, the room is wrapped in cream walls like an unattractive present. A small bathroom is connected and a quick look inside confirms the presence of a shower, sink and toilet... all of which are caked in a layer of grime. He’s sure if he used a UV light on the walls he’d be in for a shock- he can’t help but grimace... note for next time, pick the slightly more expensive room.

He looks back down at pup to see her lick her lips whilst creating a “smack” sound. Feeding her seems like a reasonable course of action- she can eat while he showers so he digs around in his bag for the packet of puppy food and scooping some onto her bowl before placing it into her nest- she immediately pounces on it like a starving orphan... not too far from the truth really.

Whilst she is preoccupied he starts the shower, setting it to the highest setting (careful to touch the filthy handle as little as possible), he quickly strips and then proceeds to hop into the shower. He sighs as he feels his shoulder muscles relax which is a welcome feeling after they’ve been strained from his bag straps all day- the hot water does nothing to ease his back muscles but he can’t win all his battles. Not even bothering to wash his hair he just stands under the spray with his chin tilted skywards as he revels in the feeling of the water on his face- a moment of mental silence for once. Once he’s finished he wraps a towel around his waist and exits the bathroom.

The sight before him makes him suspicious, as soon as he steps into the room the pup stops what she’s doing and swivels her head around like an owl to face him. She’s sat on her flipped bowl with her claws wrapped around the edges.

He rocks over on one hip and asks with a chuckle “what are you doing?” The only reply he gets is a blank stare “stop attacking your bowl, it won’t change anything” she only huffs at him.

Deciding to leave her to it he dries himself, changes into some sweats and an oversized white top. Before flopping onto his bed. A heavy sigh escapes him. He doesn’t even know what time it is but he’s tired from the days travels- maybe he’s getting old...

Reluctantly he pulls himself up and pulls his boots back on and scoops the pup up before taking her outside for the last time that day, he just wants to sleep with no puppy related accidents.

Once he’s back in his room he slides hhis knife under his pillow (for safety purposes) and soon enough pup’s tucked in and quickly dosing off, Hanzo shortly follows.

———————————————

Hanzo wakes up to a high pitched yapping close to his ear causing him to jolt awake, every muscle in his body tense and he whips his head around the room, only for his gaze to settle on the squirming puppy beside him.

Of course it was the puppy. He checks the time on his phone, exactly 6am... what the fuck pup. Hanzo has no clue how long he’d slept but he doesn’t feel like he’s covered in weights like usual so it’s not too bad. A whine pulls his attention back down to the pup and he notices her circling but maintaining eye contact- he’s almost positive she needs to go out.

Hanzo drags himself up from the bed and notices he didn’t even take his boots off last night, how tired was he exactly? But that doesn’t matter right now so he tugs his jacket on to protect himself from the chilly winter breeze and takes the pup outside. All he can do is glare at her as he watches her plod around in the grass sniffing, to be fair to her she didn’t spoil her bed for a second night in a row so he can’t stay mad at her for long.

Soon enough he’s back in his room and the pup’s trotting round like she owns the place, Hanzo methodically changes into his clothes from yesterday- seriously, a laundry run is needed soon- before tying his hair up, sighing in annoyance as that untameable strand flops in front of his eye like usual. He takes his time to brush his teeth and organise the room so when he’s done it’s just passed 8am- the dog shelter should be open now. After tucking pup into his jacket and pulling the address up on his phone he sets off to hand her over.

————————————

It’s about half an hour later when he’s waiting to cross a road when he feels the hairs on the back on his neck stand on end. Looking around he sees no one suspicious looking, hesitantly he returns his gaze back to the traffic.

A tap on his lower back nearly makes him jump out of his skin but his training means the only external reaction is whipping his head around... only for him to see a man not much older than him in a wheelchair.

The man holds his fist out to him, when Hanzo doesn’t react he nudes his hand with his fist which prompts him to take what the man’s offering him. He glances down to see an ancient smartphone in his clutches.

“What?” He asked but by then the man’s gone- Hanzo’s loosing his knack.

He knows he should just throw the phone away and get on with his day but curiosity gets the better of him so he takes a seat on a nearby bench and presses the power button, his free hand coming up to rub pup’s head.

The device has no personalisation at all, a generic mountain wallpaper greets him. Suddenly the phone vibrates and a “1” appears next to the messages app. Against his better judgement he opens the message.

“Meet me at Putstraat 312 as soon as possible, I have a job for you. I can pay you handsomely”.

Hanzo can only sigh, he could do with the money but it depends on he job- hunting down someone’s abuser? He’ll do that happily, killing a family in their sleep? He’ll have to give that one a pass. He’s murdered enough innocents in his time under the Clan’s control.

He makes a decision, he’ll drop the pup off at the shelter then make his way to the address. If he doesn’t like the job he’ll leave... simple.

He memorises the address and proceeds to crush the phone under his boot.

—————————————

It’s just passed 3pm when he gets to the animal shelter- he might’ve taken a walk along the canal on his way... totally not to spent more time with pup, the sign that greets him has “Dappere Honden” (his mind vaguely translates it to “Dapper Dogs”-cute) painted on it welcoming pastel blues and pinks. The front door is closed but the timetable on it states that they’re open today until 6pm so he got there in plenty of time.

He ducks his head into the alley way next to the shelter and sees a box with walls just high enough that pup can’t leap out, silently he drags the box to the front step and places her into it- she yawns and looks around, she looks up at him with a confused expression.

“You’ll be safe here, okay little one?” He tries to sound reassuring but his voice holds a sat tint. Getting up he makes his way away from the box, shoving his hands into his pockets- this is for the best and he’s 100% okay with this.

It’s when he hears the panicked screech that he starts to doubt his okay-ness, halting in place he hears her terrified screams, she’s scared and doesn’t now what’s happening or why... it’s then he realises he’s crying. He can’t be selfish she won’t be safe with him, there’s too many people after his head and she’ll slow him down, or she’ll get killed- the Shimada Clan don’t care who they take down to get to a victim and he’s at the top of their hit list.

A kinder part of his mind (the minority these days) tells minds that he hasn’t thought of Genji since she came into his life, that’s a lie he hasn’t thought of Genji in anything but fond memories... no betrayal or sin involved. Her presence in his life, no matter how short, has made a huge impact on his life, on his self esteem and on his general mind set, her presence is like a hug that banishes away the trauma.

“She could be good for you”.

She could but at what cost.

“She could help you”.

She could get killed.

“Give her a chance, give yourself a chance for redemption... Master”.

His stomach drops to the floor as another scream reaches his ears. With a frustrated growl, that comes out more like a sob, he swivels in place and rushes back to the pup. As soon as she picks her up she snuggles her way into his jacket, shaking the whole time.

“I’m so sorry little one, I am here” he whispers in her ear. She instantly relaxes against him. Once he retreats around the corner he leans against a damp wall and sinks to the floor, clutching the pup to his chest the entire time. He had never felt dread like that before, the Clan incident filled him with pure panic... the dread was something far worse.

Hanzo can feel himself begin to hyperventilate- he can only breathe in short, shallow breaths that don’t quite reach his lungs. The road in front of him begin to go blurry and his head starts to pound when he suddenly feels a wet nose press against his jaw. It’s almost like she’s trying to say “I am here”, he chuckles at that.

With one last grounding sigh he rises from his slumped position, pup still tucked snuggly into his jacket. He starts walking towards the address.

If vague thought enters his mind- if he is going to keep her she needs a name...

He thinks of the pup tucked into his jacket and he knows she will grow up to be a gorgeous dog, her light body perfectly frames her dark, narrow face. She’s also a spirited little creature, walking like she owns any room and the fire in her eyes is nothing short of intimidating (Hanzo could easily say he’s jealous of her passion for life). It’s then that he realises who she’s like... his mother, she too had a feisty spirit and from what he can remember she was a beautiful woman. He won’t name them the same- that hits a bit too close to home but his mother’s favourite flower was a lotus, the Shimada private garden was once filled to the brim with them. It’s then he settles on her name.

Ren- this puppy will be his little Ren.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A job is taken, encounters happen, people are killed and Ren is a general cutie.

Hanzo currently stands in front of a rather intimidating looking block of flats known as the “Putstraat”, the flats are located in the heart of the village and look quite misplaced, as the rest of the village is decorated in traditional looking houses so this set of flats watching over everyone just looks... wrong. He rings the bell for flat 312 and the door clicks open without him even having to say a word- just how he likes it. As soon as he’s through the door he takes him blade out from his boot and tucks it up his sleeve, better safe than sorry, and makes his way up the steps.

He’s forced to slow his pace down sooner than he would like- Ren doesn’t seem to keen on the bouncing if her whines are anything to go by.

Soon enough he finds himself in front of room 312, the door looks no different to every single other door he passed but never the less, Hanzo is still on edge. He raises his hand to knock confidently on the door (even if he’s internally nervous) and there’s no response. With a resigned sigh he turns around with every intention to head back to his motel.

That plan is instantly thrown out the window when he sees that man, the same wheelchair bound individual that asked him to meet him here.

“Ah, I am sorry I just nipped out for some food. Trust my luck that I nearly miss you the one time I leave the flat” the man apologises whilst smiling at him in a friendly manner- the Japanese accent in his tone impossible to miss. When the Shimada doesn’t reply he invites him into the flat and Hanzo follows him albeit cautious. He takes in the man’s appearance, his face is aged with crow feet framing his eyes and creases dug into his brow. His hair is a striking white from either age or stress (Hanzo can sympathise with the latter) whilst his jaw has stubble scattered on .

Upon entering the room the man begins to rant “I have to admit that I have been following you for a while” that’s creepy “and I have seen that you are the best of the best when it comes to sorting out people’s troubles, and Shimada-san” that catches his attention “I have a job for you”.

“You said that in your message” he retorts dryly.

“Straight to the point, I like that” Hanzo could only roll his eyes. He tenses when the man moves forward, his wheels causing the floorboards beneath them to creek. Before he can sooth the pup in his jacket she begins to wriggle and the man notices “what is that?”

Reluctantly, he unzips his jacket and places her on the floor, they both watch as she sniffs the wheelchair; the man chuckles when she jumps after noticing the other human in the room “she’s a rescue” is all the information he gives.

The man goes to pat her head until she ducks away from him and retreats back to Hanzo’s boots “what’s the job?” He desperately wants this meeting to be over.

“Ah yes! The reason I brought you here, someone in the Shimada clan-“

“No” he instantly refuses “I am done with the clan! I ill have nothing to-“

“They murdered my daughter!” The man interrupts and Hanzo freezes “they killed my daughter in cold blood and I want you to kill the man who did it!”

When Hanzo doesn’t reply the man pulls a holopad from his pocket, pulls up a man’s profile with an address typed underneath and hands it to him. He feels Ren rest her little head on his boot as he takes in the target’s face- olive skin, a solid square jaw, a pointed nose that has obviously been broken at some point, narrow mono lidded eyes and jet black hair shaved into a buzz cut... overall a generic Shimada thug.

“That is Domoto Hakuseki, the man who murdered my daughter. The address beneath is the safe house him and his men are currently staying at, its in a block of flats not too far from here. I want you to snipe him through the window and that’s all- I will pay you now as I am confident in your skills” with that he pulls his phone out and nods at Hanzo, who’s own phone buzzes (no doubt with a confirmation of payment).

They stare at each other intently for a couple of seconds before Hanzo moves towards the door with Ren hot on his heels “he will be dead by sunrise”.

“Of that I have no doubt” is all he hears form the man before making his way down the hall.

——————————

A couple of hours later finds Hanzo perched on the rooftop of the building opposite the target’s safe-house. He’s dressed in his traditional clothing like he always is so a mission, it just feels right- the sleeves of his short kimono cover both his arms, his dragons won’t be needed tonight. Next to him Ren is curled up in a blanket happily snoring away, as soon as they got back to the motel she began to run around the place like a mad man, only stopping to eat and relieve herself outside- it worked in his favour as she is now out cold.

Turning his attention back to the safe-house he sees the target standing at a table with both hands balled into fists resting on the table, his demeanour shouts “listen to me” which Hanzo cares little for.

He slowly knocks an arrow before pulling the string back to his face, the creak of the string settles his hammering heart causing his hands to stay perfectly still.

Then time slows.

Sucking one last breath in he unclenches his fingers, keeping both wrists perfectly still so causes the arrow flies straight. He feels like arrow’s feathers slice his cheekbone as they sail by and he only breaths again when the arrow has fully left his control.

After crouching behind the ledge he begins to wrap Ren’s blanket around his torso and fashions it into some sort of estranged podaegi- he knows he’s hit his target when he hears the glass of the window and the shouting begins. Jobs like these are as easy as breathing these days. With his bow in his hand and Ren strapped to his front still asleep (seriously she could sleep through a nuclear war) he moves.

He sets off across the roof tops, hopping from one ledge to the other. 

The hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. On instinct, he drops to the floor, sliding on his hip as a bullet pierces the pipe where his head was. 

Shit. Sniper.

Without stopping he stumbles back to his feet and forces his legs to move, he can hear the “tap” of metallic boots not too far behind him. He takes a sudden left, then right before skipping over a gap between two buildings.

Soon his feet start aching- god knows how long he’s been running- so he ducks behind a roof vent, quickly catching his breath. Against his better judgement he peers around the corner to have a look at his assailant, he sees nothing in the darkness.

He about to set off running again when he sees eight red gleaning eyes emerge from the shadows.

“What the-“ he’s interrupted by a bullet narrowly missing his temple- time to go.

Whilst he’s bounding his way across alleyways and roof tops it becomes obvious he wont be able to out run his faceless nemesis any time soon, so he skids to a stop and swings his bow around in a arch, smirking when he realises it just missed their head.

They jump apart from each other, glaring like a pair of territorial cats- he finally gets a good look at his adversary.

She’s definitely a woman with an unnerving purple tint to her skin, her body’s wrapped in a skin tight suit that hides nothing for the imagination, her hair’s slicked back into a high pony tail to match his own (only hers is far longer). Those eight eyes he saw are a part of a headpiece covering her hairline, her actual eyes are a bright yellow that seem to stare into his soul- overall she’s quite unsettling.

Her posture seems to relaxed considering they’re mid-fight, she has her weight settled on one hip and her rifle (an impressive model) rests on her shoulder. He notices her running her eyes along his person, nodding in approval- he’s never had an assassin do that before.

“You are good at what you do, Monsieur“ she states, her thick french accent surprises him. Hanzo narrows his eyes at her but remains silent.

There is a brief but tense moment where nothing happens, the two assassins just stare at each other, one constantly sizing up the other.

Her eyes flick down to his chest when Ren lets out a sleepy whine- Hanzo uses the distraction to his advantage, he knocks an arrow and lets it loose on a path straight for her eye, forcing her to duck and roll behind a pipe.

Without another thought he sets off in a sprint away from the woman, he doesn’t hear her follow.

—————————————

He wandered the village’s rooftops for another hour before making his way back to the motel, just to be sure he’s safe from prying eyes.

Upon entering the room every muscle in his body suddenly feels like its gained a pound, he feels like shit. To make matters worse Ren decides it’s the perfect time to zoom around the room a mad man, he vaguely wonders if she sucked all his energy on the walk here.

He decides to leave her to it before stumbling into the bathroom and turning the shower on, he strips down (making sure to carefully fold his battle gear) and steps under the hot stream- his muscles don’t relax one bit but he can feel the sweat being washed away.

His mind is racing a mile per second, who was that woman? She didn’t see seem one hundred percent dedicated to killing him, but she did seem like she was... evaluating him in a way, however he knows one thing- her presence can mean nothing but trouble. She definitely didn’t seem to be affiliated with the clan in anyway- they never were willing to use outside help. Does that mean someone else is out for his head? He wouldn’t be too surprised.

First thing tomorrow they will have to move onto another location, ideally out of Belgium- too many people seem to know he’s hear which only serves to put him on edge.

A sudden bark right next to him definitely doesn’t make him jump, but he does pull the shower curtain aside to see Ren sat on the bathroom mat, tongue hanging out of her mouth and tail happily wiggling behind her.

“Are you okay?” he questions raising an eyebrow, the only response he gets is faster tail wiggling “you’ll have to wait for me to finish here”. She doesn’t move, so he just chuckles and ducks his head back under the water to quickly finish his shower.

Soon enough the shower’s been turned off and he’s forced to hop over Ren to escape the shower, as he’s changing his puppy relentlessly circles his feet and occasionally tugging on the ankles of his sweats.

“You have a lot of energy don't you, you did sleep throughout that entire job so I’m not surprised” he pulls on his boots and jacket over his hoodie “I suppose we should use some of it up if I have any hopes of you sleeping tonight”.

With that he scoops Ren and her tuggy toy up before making his way down to the grassy area-careful to avoid any staff.

As soon as her pads touch soil she’s off, and boy is she fast. Before Hanzo can even blink she’s reached the hedge lining the perimeter of the small park, with her path cut off she turns to look at him, confused etched onto her face- she’s adorable.

“Ren! Come on!” He calls, smiling as she immediately begins to sprint back to him and he has to side step (so she doesn’t barge his shins) causing her to sail past him. When she spins and hurries back to him he holds the tuggy to the floor, he grins when she latches onto it.

They continue like that for a while: Hanzo throwing the toy, Ren bringing it back to him, they play a game of “who’s strongest?’- he can’t help but let her win- until she stumbles back to him, tongue a deep shade of red hanging from her mouth, her breath coming out in harsh pants.

“I think that’s enough for you” he states before carrying her back to the room, he fills her bowl with water- which she empties- before placing her in her nest. She instantly falls asleep and he can’t blame her.

Deciding to take a leaf out of Ren’s book he curls up on his own bed before swiftly drifting off.

———————————

A month had passed since their Aunt Sara had gifted the Shimada brothers the poodle pup and Genji was absolutely infatuated with him- the youngest had christened him Arata, and it looked like the end of a mop.

Hanzo was sure their father knew about the pup, he had to it wasn’t exactly the quietest of animals, constantly yapping for attention. He made sure he came into contact with it as little as possible but it wasn’t uncommon for him to find Arata scratching on his door after Genji had left him wandering their private garden only to have his attention diverted and forgetting about the pup- typical.

Every single time Genji abandoned the baby Hanzo would care for it until the younger would come frantically barging into his room shouting “where is he?!”, not even thanking him as he carried the poodle away in his arms.

It was one of these nights, his brother had disappeared after dinner and he hadn’t heard from him since leading him to the assumption that he’d “gone out with friends” again. This was a common occurrence and he got away with it every time, Hanzo never got that chance. Any time he even thought about setting foot outside the castle’s walls he could almost instantaneously feel his father’s breath on the back of him neck as “the Heir to the clan should not be making a fool of himself Hanzo, I expect you to make me proud one day”.

That’s what it boiled down to wasn’t it? 

He was the heir and he had to be perfect, even if perfection was impossible.

He pulled himself out of his self wallowing and realised in was 11pm and there had been no puppy whining to be let in, he rises from his bed and makes his way to the garden- Arata may be in trouble after all. He called for the poodle as he slid his door open.

What he saw made his blood run cold.

A silhouette stood in the shadows on the opposite side of the clearing.

“Welcome, Hanzo” came the cruel voice of his father “I warned you”.

With that he stepped out of the shadows and the sight made Hanzo’s lip quiver. Clutched in his father’s hand was the lifeless, unmoving body of Arata, his neck bent at an unnatural angle.

He couldn’t control the sob that escaped his mouth as he fell to his knees.

“I am disappointed in you, Hanzo. If you had just controlled yourself and left this mutt to Geniji it could have lived, but you’ve prove yourself to have no self control... pathetic” with that he threw the body so it landed by his knees “you will explain to Genji what happened and that it was your fault, yes?” 

Hanzo could only nod and stare at the corpse as his father left the garden. The puppy looked as if he was asleep, eyes sealed shut and body relaxed, only the bend on his neck gave away his gruesome fate.

It was one in the morning when Genji finally returned to find Hanzo kneeling in the garden with his pup cradled on his lap- cute.

“Anija! How’s Arata?” He asked, he stopped in his tracks when Hanzo lifted his head and he saw the tears streaked down his cheeks. Then he saw his pup’s chest want moving “What happened? What did you do?!”

“I am so sorry, Genji. I left him for a minute, he must have fallen whilst I was gone” he couldn't tell his little brother the truth, Genji admired their father too much- he couldn’t be the one to break down his illusion of the clan leader.

Without another word Genji took Arata and made his way back to his room, his sobs could be heard throughout Hanamura that night.

He was a fool, he let himself get close to Genji’s puppy and it cost an innocent life just because he couldn’t control himself- he’s pathetic.

That night he laid in his bed and stared at the ceiling before feeling the cold tip of a gun barrel pressing into his temple.

Wait, what?

——————————————

Hanzo opens his eyes and he feels every one of his muscles tense.

“Ah! Finally awake I see!” He look to his right to come face to face with the barrel of the gun “I expected you to attack me as soon as I snuck in but your skill must be wearing thin Shimada-san” he knows that voice, and then it clicks.

The thick Japanese accent belongs to the wheelchair bound man, he peers around the barrel only to have his suspicions confirmed.

It’s definitely that man, he never did cough up his name, only now he’s stood by his bed- either it was a con or there’s a miracle worker loose in the village. It’s then he raises his other hand only for Hanzo to see what he has his grimy hands wrapped around.

Ren- he has her held by her scruff, her head whipping around and her legs flailing in a desperate attempt to get away.

“What do you want?” He queries, the man just smirks.

“Isn’t that the million dollar question?” The American saying sounds so wrong in such a thick accent “I wasn’t lying when I said I had been following you for a while, a few years ago my daughter was taken by your clan and I told if I brought them your head I would get her back”.

As he monologues he gestures with the arm attached to Ren, causing her to squeak and whine as she’s waved around.

“Every time i got close to you, you wold always slip through my grasp. After a year with no hit they... killed my little girl, all because you refused to fucking die!” The man’s on the verge of tears.

“Who did I kill today?”

The man chuckles “that was the man who killed my daughter, so I got you to end him and now I will get my revenge on you for being such a slippery bastard. Ha! It all comes full circle doesn’t it” with that he presses the gun back into his temple with more force that necessary, Hanzo maintains eye contact.

Wait, Master... do not strike yet, just wait.

So he waits for a second.

The man’s eyes gleam with excitement and with no warning Ren clamps her sharp canines down into the man’s hand, causing him to jump back in surprise and fling the pup across the room.

Abruptly, Hanzo kicks his heel into the man’s shin forcing him partially to the floor. He sees his chance and takes it jumping up from the bed, grabbing the gun and putting a bullet between the man’s eyes- blood sprays onto the wall behind him before he slumps to the floor (he’s relieved he had the foresight to bring a silencer).

He methodically strips the gun, flushes the smaller parts and tucks the larger ones into the man’s jacket.

Once he’s done Ren rushes over to him tucking herself into his arms, she shakes the whole time.

“You did so well, little one. You scared the bad man away” he reassures her, she simply snuggles further into his embrace. With Ren in his arms he packs his equipment as quickly as physically possible before making his way to of the motel (he places a wad of credits on the table as a pathetic attempt at an apology for the mess).

He rushes to the train station, hoping to get as far away from this pace as possible, in as little time as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not sure whether to continue with this part or carry the story on as a part 2 of the “Hanzos Saviour” series... I plan for more helpful characters to come along and they don’t really fit in with the title... what do you think?
> 
> UPDATE: This is the final chapter of this part, part 2 of “Hanzo’s Saviour” coming soon so stay tuned!

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think, I’d love to hear feedback. I’ll answer any questions you may have happily!


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